I just tried and got a file off ModDB without having an account or logged in. I loaded the main page and clicked on the first mod I saw, NProject Mod 2.8.1. After that I clicked Download Now! under the pic then Download Now again on the next page. After that a box popped up similar to the one on Desura that had a link at the top of it to direct download, and the file also started downloading automatically after a few seconds.


Edit: I tried another mod, Cry of Fear 1.0. The page gave two options, Download Now and Download on Desura. The Download Now link sent me to Gamefront. The Download on Desura gave a prompt to install Desura, but one I clicked the Cry of Fear link in the pop up box, it went to the Desura page which allowed a separate download.

Is there a specific mod you are trying that isn't giving a direct download option, either from moddb or desura itself?

mm, seems like all download is handled through Desura's servers. That's fine. You do need to make an account to upload, but it is the same for Nexus and makes sense.

That's my only hesitation with these kickstarters. The first dev, that does this to me, will be treated like EA is. No purchase ever. I hold grudges for a long time. I, thankfully to me and to the devs, missed this KS. So, I will decide when it comes out if I purchase it. SIgns are leading to no purchase, unless DLCs will come to the DRM-Free game.
You could always backup your games, uninstall steam, and redownload the client.

or just manually delete the steam client and download it again, installing it in same folder. No need to mess around with the games, first time steam runs it will sort itself out

Its a good idea that they are doing this. Constant stable servers? for no cost? Why wouldn't you do that? The game will have official servers for years to come.

That's an option, as well, just the paranoid in me always backs up things before doing something drastic.

Yep. Only you would not need to install anything. Once fully downloaded, copy the relevant folder, archive it and store it online in something like Dropbox, Google Drive, etc.. (it's not a backup if you only have one copy of it)

Damn you for dragging me back in!

DRM free and Steam are completely different things from DRM free and securom et al. Indie devs don't use Steam to protect from piracy or any of that nonsense (not that big publishers do that). Steam is simply saving them _a lot_ of money. Money that obviously isn't made up by the DRM free evangelists.

Look at paradox, probably as niche and as "pure PC gaming" you can get in terms of games. And even they only make 5% DRM free sales.

In the end, I care about developers. I care about that they can create the games they want to make and for that I support them. And Steam is offering a great service to indie devs. This very game is the perfect example. HBS isn't using Steam because they are afraid of piracy. Heck, I'm still willing to bet that the DRM part of Steam won't even be activated. They use Steam as a tool to save money. Something I respect. (Which is also why a lot of people have no problem with using Steam. They are not the senseless masses they are always painted as by the DRM free evangelists, but they often use Steam as a deliberate choice after wagering the pros and cons.)

Personally, I hope they offer refunds for those who feel offended by this. At least then this nonesense debate is over. And the 5% - 10% of money they will lose will be more than made up by the Steam preorder.


The debate is even more inane, btw, if you bring up the Nexus as an alternative. As both are third party solutions that need an extra account etc. (Unless all mods are below 2 mb. Which I doubt)
I don't like to read, I rather watch youtube clips ;-).
Just delete everything expect the Steam.exe and the games. Steam does "fix itself" when you start it again.

Oh please... Can you imagine any other reason for making the DLC and the mods only available through Steam against their own backers desires?

Oh please... did you actually read the update from HBS? Because they explained WHY they went down that road....

As much as I don't like this move, it's still wait and see for me. People claimed doom and gloom all over Skyrim getting steam workshop'ed - in the end it just wasn't the end for modding it.

That's not why. Not so much people afraid of being unable to play or mod it elsewhere, as that some gamers here at least backed the game on kickstarter, thinking it would be a 100% DRM-Free version, and would have never put in the cash should it have been revealed from the get-go that there's gonna be DRM after all.

Edit: And some do consider Steam as DRM.

Yeh, but Skyrim wasn't crowd-funded with the promise that the game would be DLC-free.

That's my only problem with this. I don't hate Steam (although I was really hoping for a GOG release, considering the game's pedigree), but I feel that if you explicitly promise your backers, "For PC/Mac/Linux, the game will be available DRM-free from our website" and then (long after you've taken their money and they can no longer do anything about it) you turn around and say, "Oh, by the way, we're planning a bunch of content that won't actually be available to you if you download that version," you are not playing straight with your backers.

Speaking as a backer on SRR, reading some of the more inflamatory posts here and specially on the Ks page, makes me do a grand /facepalm, for such things as:
- treating KS as a glorified preorder store when it isnt one , and requesting a refund or making lawsuit threats at the first sign that the finished product is something diferent than imagined.
- ignoring that the game will be availible drm free aswell as the second city on the developer website. I imagine but could be wrong, that by the time the second city dlc is patched to the drm free version it would also patch to the latest public version. So patch support for the game should exist at least untill that dlc comes out.
- consider a god given right to each backer the main game, the second city dlc, aswell as all future created content both from the developer aswell as the comunity from the point of release untill the end of time, wich has to be made availible at the personal whim of said backer.
- expect ad eternum support for the game from the developer.
- make all kinds of theories as facts
- Disregard and consider a personal insult the choice of steam when it has several advanfages for the developer.

Personnaly i don´t care much about their update, perhaps some disapointment if indeed the user created content cant be shared between the steam version and the drm free version, but hardly worth getting all fussed about it.

It's exactly the other way around, Mod DB existed for a long time before Desura and even Indie DB. The HL2 mods do require HL2 to run, of course, every mod needs the base game.